British Tabloids’ Harassment Towards New Royals

For years, we have seen the late Princess Diana go through constant harassment from the British press, but are we seeing a repeat of events

            With Prince Andrew facing numerous allegations of sexual harassment and Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoing the need for Brexit, the British press have chosen other things to gossip about: Meghan Markle. As one of the highest profile women in today’s pop culture and being one of the first colored royal in Britain’s history, she has managed to make an enemy or two within the news reporting community.

            The first public meeting between the two lovebirds was during the Prince’s time in Toronto, when he was finalizing the plans for the 2017 Invictus games and she was filming for her show Suits. It was evident that they were meeting secretly, and it was only a matter of time before they released an official statement of engagement in November of 2017. It would have seemed that she was gaining approval not only from the Queen, but from the public as well, but that wasn’t the case. In a recent interview with ITV Documentary, Meghan stated that she was “warned” that the British media would turn against her; and that happened.

            It’s very sad to see how the media can play a big role in how the public shapes their view onto certain figures. The tabloids have been attacking the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for many outrageous claims, like family feuds, strains on relationships, and child neglect. The press has even leaked private letters between the Duchess and her family. In an editorial submitted by Kenan Malik from The Guardian, he directly attacked the hypocrisy the Sussex were displaying with “…the duchess’s £60,000 outfits…took a private jet to fly to the south of France to holiday in Elton John’s villa…” Though how does this constitute the actions of the press? How does this defend the tabloids’ outrageous ethics in news reporting?

            This hasn’t been the first time the British have treated a new royal with this kind of hatred. When the late Princess Diana was married to Prince Charles, she was the subject to one of the most ruthless media coverage to this day. She was targeted for sending her son, Prince William, to Eton college at age 13, and has been subjected to much criticism for having poor parenting styles. Diana has been used as the primary example to help support the tyranny the press on to Meghan, but some argue that shouldn’t be done at all. There have been reports where Diana would tip off the press for her next pit stop, but have always denied those claims. Tina Brown, an editor on Vanity Fair, said that Diana “did want some privacy, but at the same time she couldn’t resist giving them the images they wanted and one of the pictures she had allegedly tipped them off about was that she was on a boat with Dodi and said, ‘Take this picture of me on the boat’.” We still shouldn’t neglect the fact that she was chased to death by paparazzies in Paris at the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, but we should keep an objective view at what might have really caused it. The only thing that stands between Meghan and Diana is race. The British press has never been shy about critiquing the Duchess about everything, but many speculate that it’s more than that. British actress Jameela Jamil tweeted saying “Dear England and English press, just say you hate her because she’s black, and him for marrying a black woman and be done with it. Your bullying is so embarrassing and obvious. You’ve all lost your marbles.”

People flock towards the heavily damaged car in hopes of helping the injured, later identified as the late Princess DianaCourtesy of “”

            Meghan Markle knew what she was signing up for, but she didn’t understand the severity this would have on her public and not so private life. She can’t even make a decision about where to celebrate Christmas this year without offending the whole British press. The fact is, Meghan is facing a wave of bad much worse than Diana, because this time she doesn’t know what is coming for her.

Featured Image The Duke and Duchess of Sussex cracking some jokes at their first public appearance during the Invictus Games of November 2017 Photo Courtesy “E Online”

by Samuela Ma’u